A Charming George II Provincial English Oak Chest of Drawers c.1740-60

SOLD
Origin: English
Period: George II
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1740-60
Width: 28.5 inches
Height: 41.75 inches
Depth: 18.5 inches (with handles)

The provincial period oak carcass of desirable proportions and beautifully aged patination having an unorthodox arrangement of four short and three long graduated cockbeaded drawers with turned knob handles and unusual moulded oak escutcheons, standing on bracket feet surviving from mid-eighteenth century England.

The chest shows some rather attractive wear and tear with scuffing commensurate with its age, the drawers all running smoothly and the carcass structurally sound. She is a curious design and is curiously constructed in parts. Her top has a split through it but it doesn’t overtly affect the piece as a whole whilst there are two losses to mention with a section of moulding to the left rear missing and a section of cockbeading missing from a lower drawer. It is possible that the knobs are slightly later, perhaps late Georgian. It isn’t abundantly clear if the rather fun wooden moulded escutcheons are true to the piece or a later addition but are very unusual and we feel they are most likely original from conception. She has a wonderful colour and patina and displays aged character marks commensurate with age.

The Mighty English Oak (Quercus robur) has long been revered and romanticised for its reputation for strength and longevity and it has been used since the fourteenth century in the production of dwellings, warships, and provincial furniture, for which, no other timber matched its efficacy or suitability.

A piece of quirks, eccentricity, good age, appealing appearance and desirable size; displaying the distinct preferences of an individual craftsman.
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